


The World Shines For Me Today

by telperion_15



Series: Nick/Connor [9]
Category: Primeval
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Canon, Alternate Timeline Character, Alternate Universe - Canon, Angst, Character Death Fix, Lies, M/M, Timey-Wimey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-17
Updated: 2012-02-17
Packaged: 2017-10-31 08:31:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/342037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/telperion_15/pseuds/telperion_15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick finds that the past keeps coming back to haunt him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for episode 2.07.
> 
> A note about OCs:  
> Primeval fandom on LiveJournal has generated a number of fanon OCs, created by different authors and freely used by others, to the extent that some of them have now taken on lives of their own. The ones that appear in this fic, Rees, Jacobs and Anders, belong to me.

The trees were skeletal and the sky grey above him as Nick stood in the graveyard gazing down at Stephen’s headstone. It wouldn’t exactly be true to say that his surroundings suited his mood, but Nick was definitely feeling sombre. But then, everyone felt sombre in a cemetery, didn’t they?

It was January, and Nick, who had decided to take his lead from Connor’s positive outlook on life, was investing in the ‘new year, new start’ philosophy. Christmas had been a quiet affair, albeit a jovial one. Nick had spent the majority of it with Connor, with Abby joining in sometimes too. Jenny had even joined them as well on a couple of occasions, and Nick was finding that the woman was good company when she wasn’t wearing her PR persona.

But now the festive season was over, and things were getting back to normal. Or as normal as they could ever get around the ARC, at any rate. And Nick had decided that it was time to look on the bright side of life, and let some things go. This was his life now, and against all the odds, he was happy. He had what he considered to be the best job in the world (notwithstanding the unfortunate fact of having Lester as his boss). And, more importantly, he had Connor. Things were getting better, and it was time to start looking forward, not back. It was time to start leaving the past in the past.

Except for this one thing.

It had become almost a ritual, this fortnightly visit to Stephen’s grave. He still missed his friend terribly, and wished with all his heart that he had worked harder to repair things between them before Stephen’s death. And because of that he felt like he still owed Stephen something, even if it was only standing by his graveside every once in a while – a simple acknowledgement of everything they had shared together.

Connor knew about this routine – he was the only person who did – but he hadn’t tried to stop Nick from coming here. In fact, the young man had offered to come with him, but hadn’t been offended when Nick had turned him down. Nick was still surprised sometimes by how much Connor had matured over the past few months – it was something that he was grateful for every single day. He knew he wouldn’t have made it through everything that had happened to him without Connor’s support.

But this was something Nick needed to do on his own. And apparently Connor understood that.

This was his first visit of the New Year – it had been longer than usual since his last visit here, and he was feeling slightly guilty about not having been around to keep an eye on Stephen. And when he heard a footfall behind him, he knew he hadn’t been wrong in feeling that Stephen needed protecting, even now he was gone.

Nick didn’t turn around. He knew who it would be. There was only one other person who visited this grave any more. Helen didn’t know that he had spotted her here. It had only happened once – he’d come on a different day of the week to normal, a day when she’d obviously expected him not to be here. He’d only seen her from a distance, waiting unobtrusively until she left before approaching Stephen’s grave himself.

He knew he should have used that time to call someone – he should have used the opportunity to get hold of her once and for all. To get some answers and get her out of their way.

But he hadn’t. This wasn’t the right time and place for that. It would have felt like a desecration. He didn’t want Stephen’s resting place to become a scene of conflict and recrimination.

And besides, something about the way she had stood over the grave had repulsed him. Reaching down to caress the earth, smiling at the headstone. It wasn’t grief, it was more like possession. Even though he was dead Helen still wanted Stephen for her own.

So he didn’t turn around now. He didn’t need to. He didn’t want to.

“Well, this is one of the more surreal experiences of my life.”

It wasn’t Helen.


	2. Chapter 2

 

Connor saw him first, as he stumbled through the doors to the atrium. Nick looked like he’d seen a ghost – he was as white as a sheet and visibly trembling. He looked like he was going to fall down at any second.

“Nick, what is it? What’s the matter?” Connor asked, alarmed, as the other man staggered towards him and Abby.

But Nick just shook his head mutely, sinking into the one of the chairs next to the anomaly detector and burying his head in his hands as he struggled to take some deep breaths.

Seriously worried now, Connor and Abby looked at each other in silent consultation across Nick’s bowed head. Then Abby stood up, heading off in the direction of the ARC’s medical bay.

“Nick, what is it?” Connor asked again, stroking a soothing hand down Nick’s shaking back. “Is there an anomaly? Is there something dangerous out there?”

The choked laugh was so incongruous with the situation that Connor drew back a little in shock. Clearly something was very wrong here.

Nick muttered something, but the words were muffled, and Connor had to ask him to repeat them.

“I said, it depends on your point-of-view,” Nick said. “But in my opinion – yes, there’s something very dangerous out there.”

“What?” Connor demanded. “Nick, please, we have to do something.”

“It’s Helen,” Nick replied flatly.

“Helen? She’s here?”

“Yep.”

“And she’s done something?”

Another bitter laugh – to Connor the sound had a ring of desperation and fear to it. It was the kind of laugh that was the only thing standing between a person and utter breakdown.

“Yes, she’s done something. Oh boy, has she done something.”

Connor was afraid to ask. He couldn’t imagine what Helen could have done that was worse than what she had done already. Obviously it was something terrible.

And yet…nothing appeared to have changed. He was still here. Nick was still here. The ARC was still here. Nothing seemed to be different. But then, he supposed that, given that he was part of the timeline, he wouldn’t notice if it _was_ different.

“She threatened to do this,” Nick was muttering. “She threatened to change things. It’s all a game to her. Does she even know what she’s _done_?”

“Nick.” Connor cut across the rambling words, trying get through to the other man. “What _has_ she done?”

Nick looked at him properly for the first time, and Connor fought down the urge to flinch away from the look in his eyes.

“Stephen…”

“What about Stephen?”

“He’s here.”

For a second the words just hovered between them, as Connor’s brain struggled to comprehend what he’d just been told. Then understanding hit him all at once, with a sensation as physical as a punch to the stomach.

“He’s back?”

“Yes.”

“Helen brought him back?”

“Yes.”

Connor hesitated slightly. “But isn’t that…”

“A good thing?” Nick anticipated his tentative question. “No. It isn’t. Nothing Helen does is ever good. You didn’t see him, Connor. You didn’t hear what he had to say. He was Stephen, but he was different. Something’s changed. She’s done something to him. He’s wrong…”

*   *   *   *   *

“Well, this is one of the more surreal experiences of my life.”

The voice was so utterly unexpected that for a moment Nick was convinced he must be dreaming. Somehow he’d fallen asleep by Stephen’s grave, and this was all a product of his sleeping mind.

“After all, not everyone can say they’ve stood at their own graveside.”

There were a couple more footsteps, and then someone was standing beside him. Nick didn’t turn his head. He was more afraid than he’d ever been in his entire life. He was afraid that this wasn’t real. He was afraid that it _was_.

“And to think, this could have been me.”

“It is you,” said Nick tonelessly, locking his emotions away. “I watched you die, and you’re buried right here under the earth.”

“Well, yes, _that_ me is. But this me is standing right here. And clearly _I’m_ not dead.”

“Would you care to explain how that can possibly be the case?”

“Not sure that I should. I don’t think Helen would like it. You know how she can be.”

“Where is Helen?”

“Oh, she’s around somewhere. She’ll soon turn up if I don’t go back to her.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“Of course. She brought me here. I owe her.”

“And just where did she bring you here _from_?”

Silence.

Nick turned his head. Stephen was gone.

*   *   *   *   *

“Wrong how, exactly?”

“I don’t know!” Nick shook his head in frustration. “Just…you should have heard the way he spoke about Helen. Like he was her pet and she was his master. It was…revolting.”

“But before…him and Helen…”

“This wasn’t the same,” said Nick emphatically. “Before he was doing what he thought he had to. He thought he was in control. This…he knows he’s not the one in charge, and he doesn’t care. He was perfectly happy to be at her beck and call. She’s got some kind of hold over him. He’s not the same person.”

Connor was having trouble working out what to say next. Stephen had come back from the dead – shouldn’t that have been a happy event? And yet it almost sounded like Nick wished his friend had stayed buried.

“I need to get out of here,” said Nick suddenly. “I can’t face this. I don’t know what to do.”

He seemed to be working himself up into a state again, and Connor stood up, holding out a hand.

“I’m taking you home,” he said firmly. “Come on.”

Nick stood too, and then wobbled slightly, almost collapsing against Connor. The young man was alarmed to feel Nick trembling uncontrollably. Looping an arm around Nick’s shoulders, he guided the other man slowly across the atrium. From behind them came the sound of a glass door opening.

“Professor Cutter!”

Connor ignored Lester’s questioning summons, and continued gently propelling Nick towards the exit. As they reached the door, Abby pushed it open from the other side. She raised her eyebrows at Connor, and opened her mouth to ask him where he was taking the professor.

But Connor shook his head slightly. “Later,” he mouthed at her. She nodded in acceptance, and then stood back, holding the door open for them. As he passed through it and it swung shut behind them, Connor heard Lester demanding of Abby what was going on.

*   *   *   *   *

Connor was fiddling with coffee mugs and filters when a pair of arms slid around his waist, holding him tightly.

“Morning,” said Nick, resting his chin on Connor’s shoulder.

“Morning,” Connor replied cautiously, not entirely sure what else to say. “Coffee?”

“Please. And if you could make it industrial strength, so much the better.”

“Got it.” Connor set about making the coffee, hampered by the arms still encircling him, but not minding in the slightest. Nick wasn’t the only one feeling in need of a severe caffeine hit this morning.  Connor felt like he had spent most of the night watching the other man toss and turn – if anything, he had probably got _less_ sleep than Nick. Although he suspected that Nick hadn’t slept much either, despite the fact that every time he had whispered, “Are you awake?” he had received no reply. Clearly Nick hadn’t wanted to talk, something for which Connor didn’t blame him one iota.

“I’m sorry about yesterday,” Nick said, stepping away finally to take the mug of coffee Connor was proffering. Connor immediately felt the loss of Nick’s body against his, and he unconsciously hugged the arm that wasn’t holding his own mug around himself.

“I really don’t think you’ve got anything to be apologising for,” he replied, smiling lopsidedly. Then he paused. “How are you?” he asked finally.

“Still a little crazy,” Nick admitted. “I half think I dreamed it all. But I know I didn’t,” he finished.

“Why do you think he’s here? What’s Helen hoping to achieve?”

Nick shrugged. “Who knows? Helen’s a complete mystery to me nowadays. Back in…that place, she was talking about experimenting with the timelines, about changing things. Maybe Stephen’s just a precursor to that – she’s just proving to me that she can do whatever she likes.”

“But why is he different? She can’t have changed his personality. Can she? Where did he come from?”

“I don’t know!” Nick snapped. Then his voice softened. “Sorry,” he said. “I told you I was still a little crazy.”

“It’s okay.” Connor set his mug down on the worktop and stepped over to Nick – this time it was _his_ turn to put his arms around the other man. He kissed Nick softly – on the lips, on the cheeks, on his eyelids, forehead, throat. “It’s okay,” he murmured again.

“No, it isn’t,” Nick murmured back, but the words lacked conviction, and Connor could tell that he was allowing himself to be soothed, allowing himself to be convinced, just for a moment, that things really _would_ be alright.

His lips found Nick’s again, just as Nick’s hands came up to his shoulders, gripping them and pulling him closer. Connor sighed as their bodies melded together, and he kissed Nick with a greater fervour.

The phone rang, shattering the moment, and they both eyed it with apprehension as it jangled again.

“It’ll be Lester,” said Nick with certainty.

Connor picked up the phone. Nick was right.

*   *   *   *   *

Abby’s eyes were wide, and her mouth was an ‘O’ of shock as Connor finished relating the story. He didn’t have all the details – Nick hadn’t told him, although he was sure Lester was dragging them out of Nick right now, up there in his office – but what he did have was fantastical enough without embellishment.

“He’s really back?” Abby was whispering, as though afraid someone might hear her.

“Apparently so.”

“But you haven’t seen him yourself?”

“No.”

“Then…are you sure…?”

“That Nick’s telling the truth? That he’s not just gone completely bonkers? Yes. I am. I believe him, Abby.”

Abby smiled suddenly. “Of course you do. You always did. He’s lucky to have you, you know.”

“Yes, he is, isn’t he,” replied Connor with false modesty. For a moment they just grinned at each other, before remembering that they were supposed to be surprised and shocked and upset. The smiles died.

“Do you think Lester will believe him?” Abby asked, nodding up towards the glass-walled office.

“Who knows? Although, knowing Lester, I wouldn’t bet on it. After all, there’s no proof or anything. And you know what Lester’s like when it comes to Nick.”

Right at that moment, Lester’s office door opened and Nick came storming out. He didn’t look happy.

“So, I guess that’s a ‘no’ then,” Abby said.

Lester’s sneering voice followed Nick out the door. “And don’t come back until you have proof. A signed confession from your lovely wife would do. And that’s signed _in blood_ , professor!”

Connor moved quickly, intercepting Nick at the bottom of the ramp. “So he didn’t believe you, then?” he asked quietly.

“Of all the fucking stupid idiots…” Nick took a breath. “No, of course he didn’t. Basically told me he thought I was going insane. Told me to shuffle off back to my office and do some work like a nice little crazy professor.”

“Did you really expect anything else?”

Some of Nick’s anger seemed to diffuse. He smiled, albeit a little bitterly. “No, I suppose not. It’s just…you’d think, after everything we’ve seen, the man would be more willing to have a little faith about these things. But he’s still the same old civil servant.” Nick made the term sound like something nasty you’d find on the bottom of your shoe.

“So what are you going to do?”

“Well, you heard him. He wants proof. So I’m going to get it for him.”


	3. Chapter 3

 

If Lester wanted proof, then Nick was determined to get it for him. The goal seemed to give him something to focus on – he was spending long hours trying to work out how Helen might have pulled off her amazing stunt, and why she would have wanted to bring Stephen back. Was she just taunting him, or was Stephen really a preliminary to some bigger plan?

His theorising grew to the point of obsession, but Connor was grateful for this rather than worried by it. He knew how easily Nick could have taken a different path after being hit by such a revelation. Some nights he dreamed about the expression on Nick’s face when Nick had related the circumstances of Stephen’s return. And when he woke up he was always glad that Nick had something to take his mind off the emotionally shattering nature of the puzzle he was trying to solve.

But, for all his ideas and research, there was still one big obstacle to the production of Lester’s proof – there had been neither sight nor sound of Stephen, or Helen, since Nick’s initial conversation with him in the graveyard. Lester clearly thought that _this_ offered proof of something he’d long suspected – that the professor really _was_ unhinged. And as the days passed, even Abby’s support started to waver – she obviously didn’t want to doubt Nick, especially after everything he’d been through, but the lack of evidence to support Nick’s claims was clearly starting to erode her belief.

Sometimes it seemed like Connor was Nick’s only supporter – the only one whose faith in Nick stayed true. Well, nearly the only one. Rather surprisingly, Jenny had declared that she believed the professor as well, and was apparently sticking by her decision. She never spoke of it herself, but Nick had told Connor about her meeting with Helen in Leek’s bunker, and how she now finally believed that there had once been a person called Claudia Brown, and that she might have been her under different circumstances. This seemed to go some way towards explaining her increased friendliness to them all, and also appeared to account for her willingness to support Nick now.

But there was no doubt that the continued absence of Stephen and Helen was proving difficult. Once or twice Connor had even seen flashes of doubt on Nick’s face, as if the man was wondering whether he _hadn’t_ just dreamed the whole thing. But Connor himself was sure that they’d turn up eventually. It was obvious that Helen had trouble staying away from Nick, no matter how much she might claim to need no one. Connor sometimes wondered how she’d managed to be on her own, without anyone to manipulate or control, for a whole eight years. He knew they wouldn’t be gone long. It was only a matter of time.

And he was right.

*   *   *   *   *

“Hello, Connor.”

Connor tried not to jump and betray his surprise, but when Stephen chuckled he knew he hadn’t quite managed it. “Hello,” he replied, his voice sounding much calmer than he felt as he stood up and turned around to face the other man.

“Long time, no see.”

“I suppose.”

“Did you miss me?”

“Yes.”

Stephen laughed again, although Connor failed to see what was so funny.

“Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I miss _Stephen_ ,” he retorted. “I miss the man who sacrificed himself to save us, and whose funeral I went to. You’re not really him, and judging by what I’ve seen and heard about you so far, I’m not sure I’d miss you even if you left now and I never saw you again.”

“A little touchy, aren’t we?” Stephen commented. “I would have thought you – and Nick – would be ecstatic to see me. But so far I don’t seem to be getting that impression.”

“Well, what do you expect?” said Connor bluntly. “You’re different, and you’re with Helen. You’ve just about broken Nick’s heart – again, although he’s hiding it well – and quite frankly, you disgust me.”

“See, now you’ve hurt my feelings.”

“Oh, just go away,” snapped Connor, suddenly feeling incredibly weary. “I don’t even know why you bothered coming here in the first place. I suppose it’s all down to Helen, isn’t it? I suppose this is something to do with her twisted need to mess with Nick’s life, even though she must know now she’s never going to get him back. Although I don’t understand why you’re letting her use you to do it. The Stephen I knew wanted to make things right with Nick again. He made some mistakes, sure, but he never wanted to give up on their friendship. But you seem to be delighting in waving a second chance under Nick’s nose, and then yanking it away again.”

For a brief second something that could have been doubt flickered across Stephen’s face. But then the arrogant, slightly disdainful look was back again. “I can’t believe you thought I would fall for that,” he said cryptically.

“Fall for what? For god’s sake, Stephen…”

But Stephen was turning away. “Bye, Connor. Give my best wishes to Nick. And to Lester, of course.”

And then he was gone. Again.

*   *   *   *   *

“I’m telling you, I saw him!”

“And I’m telling you I don’t believe you, Mr. Temple.”

“But I spoke to him! We had a whole conversation!”

“So you’ve said, several times.”

“Do you think I imagined it, then?”

“I think you’re standing up for Professor Cutter. Which I suppose I can understand, given how things are between you two.”

“That’s got nothing to do with it! If I was just trying to make Nick look more credible don’t you think I would have told you this story two weeks ago? Instead of letting him run himself ragged trying to work out how to prove to you he’s telling the truth?”

“So you admit that it’s a story, then?”

“No! That’s not what I’m saying!”

“Connor.”

Nick’s quiet voice cut across Connor’s protests, and Connor turned to see him standing in the doorway.

“Ah, professor. Come to help Mr. Temple argue your case?” Lester’s eyebrows rose mockingly, but for once Nick didn’t appear to be rising to the bait. He spoke directly to Connor.

“Just leave it. Nothing we can say will make a difference. I know it’s true and you know it’s true, but that’s not enough. Don’t waste your time.”

“But we have to do something!  _He_ has to do something!” Connor jabbed a finger towards Lester.

“It can wait. Sooner or later Helen and Stephen will show themselves properly. I don’t know what the matter with Stephen is, or what Helen’s playing at, but I _do_ know that, no matter how much they want to mess with me, that won’t be enough. Helen has this need to show everyone how clever she is – eventually she’ll reveal all, and show up to gloat. Until then we’ll just have to wait, and ignore those who don’t believe us.”

Nick beckoned to Connor, who threw one more frustrated look at Lester before grudgingly heading towards the door.

“Wait.”

Now it was Lester’s voice halting his progress, and both he and Nick looked at their boss in surprise at the slightly conciliatory tone.

“I must say, you both seem very convinced by what you’re telling me. I suppose that has to count for something.”

Connor held his breath. Nick’s expression was unreadable.

“Let’s say, hypothetically, that I decided to believe you. Would that actually change anything? Until your lovely wife and your erstwhile assistant decide to show up, we can’t do anything, professor.”

“No, we can’t. But it would be nice to have some support occasionally.” Nick’s eyes flashed as he spoke. Lester just smiled.

“It’s clear that you and I are never going to see eye-to-eye, Cutter. But Mr. Temple here seems to be so adamant it appears I have no choice any more _but_ to believe you.” He smiled again, although the expression reminded Connor somewhat of a barracuda. “There, are you happy now?”

Nick remained silent.

“Oh well, I suppose I wasn’t expecting whoops of delight. Well, off you go. Back to work. Why don’t you see if you can work out a way to find our elusive pair before they find us again? Incidentally, what _do_ you expect to happen when they do reappear?”

“I don’t know,” replied Nick. “But something’s off. Stephen’s not right. And I need to find out why that is before we can do anything.”


	4. Chapter 4

The siren of the anomaly detector sounded obnoxiously loud to someone who hadn’t had a good night’s sleep for nearly a month. Particularly when that someone hadn’t had his first dose of caffeine of the day either.

With coffee looking like an increasingly fading prospect, Nick hurried to the atrium, resisting the urge to put his hands over his ears as he did so. Not for the first time, he wondered whether he should ask Connor to tone down the alert a little. Or, better still, just cut it out entirely, and have the detector signal an anomaly by making an icon pop up on everyone’s computer desktop or something.

He sighed. No, that wouldn’t work. Someone would be bound to miss it, and then valuable minutes would be lost notifying wayward team members before they could leave for the anomaly site. The siren was going to have to stay.

Happily, the noise stopped just as Nick pushed his way through the double doors into the atrium. Connor was standing in front of the anomaly detector, hurriedly downloading details on to his laptop. He smiled absently as Nick halted beside him, his attention focused on the coordinates the detector had thrown up.

“It’s in the Salcey Forest,” he said, before Nick could even ask. “Northamptonshire.”

“It’s Forestry Commission, isn’t it?” said Abby, joining them. “Isn’t that where that treetop boardwalk is? I’m sure I remember reading about it on the Internet not too long ago.”

“I think so,” Nick agreed. He looked at her. “Is all the gear ready to go?”

“Yep,” replied Abby. “No, wait, I think we need some more tranquilliser. I’ll grab some and meet you by the vehicles.”

“Okay. Don’t be long, though.”

Nick gazed at one of the screens on the detector while Connor quickly shuffled his stuff together next to him. This was the first anomaly in a few days, and the rippling graphic that marked its location pulsed gently over the Salcey Forest, almost taunting him with the possibility…

“Nick?”

Nick jumped as Connor placed a hand on his shoulder, realising that he’d spaced out for a moment. “Yep, coming,” he muttered quickly, turning away from the detector.

Connor looked at him sympathetically. “Don’t get your hopes up too much, okay?” he said softly. “I know you want to find them. But you know you won’t do that until Helen’s good and ready to stop playing games. Just try and be patient, yeah?”

“Yeah, okay,” Nick sighed. “Doesn’t make it any easier, though.”

He stepped away, letting Connor’s hand slide off his arm as he smiled at the younger man lopsidedly. “Come on. Let’s get this show on the road.”

*   *   *   *   *

As the truck crunched across the gravel of the empty car park, Nick looked hopefully over towards the small café, wondering if they’d be able to supply him with the cup of coffee he was now rather desperately craving. He noticed Jenny’s eyes following suit, although as far as he was concerned it was _her_ fault he was still caffeine-deprived.

Initially, he’d thought her a lifesaver when she’d revealed that she’d brought along a thermos of coffee for the journey. But when, an hour after drinking most of the contents, and ten minutes after passing the last service station before the Forest, both of them had realised they _hadn’t_ reached their normal pleasantly caffeinated state, Jenny had rapidly come to the conclusion that she’d made decaffeinated coffee by mistake. When questioned by Nick as to why she kept such a heinous substance in her house, she’d awkwardly replied that Mark, her fiancé, had drunk it. That had made Nick fall guiltily quiet for a while, but now, with a headache beginning to pound at the inside of his skull, he wasn’t feeling quite so understanding.

As soon as he’d switched off the ignition he jumped out of the truck and made a beeline for the café. But he was out of luck. A small typed sign blu-tacked to the door told him that the café was only open Saturdays and Sundays from October to March. And since it was February, and a Tuesday, that meant no coffee for anyone.

Close behind him he heard Jenny mutter, “Oh, _great_.” And from further away came the sound of Connor and Abby talking, the former trying not to laugh as he explained to Abby that she was lucky she only experienced a decaffeinated Nick on rare occasions – he had to deal with it most mornings.

Nick bit back a retort. It wasn’t Connor’s fault he was young and apparently permanently energised. And besides, he’d soon learn how essential coffee was to life. Nick had made it a priority to teach him.

“Right, are we ready to go?” he asked abruptly, interrupting Connor and Abby’s giggling. “Connor, where are the handheld detectors?”

“Right here.” Connor rummaged in his bag and produced two of the portable devices, tossing one to Nick before switching on his own. It immediately started pinging, signalling the presence of an anomaly not too far away. Nick left his off, to save the battery, stowing it in one of the large pockets of his jacket before looking questioningly at Connor.

“It’s that way,” the younger man said, pointing down one of the wide paths leading away from the car park into the forest.  A sign next to the path read _Treetop Walk_.

“Right, Abby and Connor, you’re with me. Jenny, how long until Jacobs and his lot arrive?”

“Not long,” replied Jenny. “They were only about ten minutes behind us. I’ll wait here for them and then point them in your direction.”

“Here, give them this.” Connor was holding out a third handheld detector, and Nick briefly wondered just how large Connor’s bag was on the inside. Bigger than on the outside, apparently. Then he shook his head, smiling slightly. Who would have thought _he_ could become a fan of the good Doctor?

“Thanks.” Jenny took the detector, threw another frustrated look at the closed café, and then opened the passenger door of the truck. “Might as well be warm while I wait,” she said wryly.

“Okay.  I’ll contact you as soon as we find the anomaly, and let you know what the situation is. There haven’t been any reports of sightings, but then, there’s no one around to have seen anything. We don’t know if any creatures have come through yet.” Nick shrugged. “Hopefully nothing’s decided to visit, and we’ll have a quiet day at the office. But…”

“…when has that ever been the case?” Jenny finished for him. She smiled. “I’ll wait to hear from you.”

The sound of the truck door slamming followed Nick, Connor, and Abby as they set off through the trees.

*   *   *   *   *

It took them all of ten minutes to find the anomaly, pulsing gently near the steps that led up to the treetop boardwalk. Its location made Nick suddenly glad that it was a Tuesday in February, despite the effect that had on his caffeine supply. Much later in the year and there would have been no avoiding a hundred day-tripping families finding it and, knowing Joe Public, feeling compelled to investigate.

But as it was the anomaly was hovering in splendid isolation, with no humans, or indeed prehistoric creatures, in sight. As they stepped towards it Connor turned off his handheld detector, the cessation of its repetitive alert mercifully allowing Nick’s headache to subside a little.

“So, what do we think?” Connor asked. “Has anything come through yet, or did we get here just in time?”

Nick and Abby crouched down in front of the anomaly. “There don’t seem to be any tracks,” Nick said after a few moments, as he struggled to remember the little he knew about tracking.

“Nothing obvious,” Abby concurred. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” she concluded ruefully.

“With the forest so empty it would be easy for anything that’s come through to hide,” Nick added. “But we really have no way of working out if that’s the case. I guess we’ll just have to hope for the best.”

Straightening up again, he looked around at the quiet woodland, hoping that there might be some clue or evidence to signify any creature incursion. After all, he could hardly expect that any prehistoric visitors were going to conveniently announce their presence.

But then a hoarse squawking sound cut through the chill air, and Nick’s eyes were drawn by a sudden movement among the bare branches of a tree about fifty feet away. A movement that was coming closer.

The shape of the creature was unclear until it suddenly emerged into the open space around the anomaly and boardwalk steps. Then is resolved itself into a typical avian-type arrangement – wings, tail, beak, feathers. But Nick knew instantly that this was no modern-day bird. And he was proved correct when the creature landed on the tree closest to where he was standing. However, instead of settling on a branch, like a regular bird, it landed on the vertical surface of the trunk, clinging to the bark with its feet, and with finger-like claws extending from the front edge of its wings.

“Oh my god,” Connor said softly.

“ _Archaeopteryx lithographica_ ,” Nick breathed reverently. “It’s beautiful.”

The archaeopteryx seemed totally unphased by the presence of humans. It was watching them quite serenely from its position ten feet up the trunk of the tree, and was showing no fright or aggression towards them. Nick couldn’t help but notice the toothed beak – quite unlike modern birds. He suspected it could deliver a nasty bite if the creature was provoked.

“Did you see the way it moved?” said Connor. “It was gliding, not flying. That proves what scientists have suspected – it wasn’t capable of proper flight. It just moves from one platform to another in short bursts.” His voice was low and excited, and the archaeopteryx jerked its head to look at him – almost as if it was as curious about the young man as he was about it.

“It hasn’t just come through the anomaly,” Abby pointed out. “It was here already. Does that mean there are more of them?”

“Could be. We just don’t know,” Nick admitted.

“And how are we going to catch it? We’re going to need a net – something that small will be almost impossible to hit with a dart. Not to mention the fact that even the smallest dose of tranquilliser will probably kill it.”

“I expect we can probably rig something up,” replied Nick off-handedly. He was too fascinated by this possible link between dinosaurs and birds to be overly worried about how they were going to apprehend it.

“Alternatively, we could always send Connor up there to grab it,” Abby continued jokingly.

“Not me,” Connor shot back. “Me and trees aren’t the best of friends at the moment. You may remember what happened the last time I was in one!” His tone was light, but as Nick dragged his gaze away from the archaeopteryx for a few seconds, he thought he could detect a certain tension in Connor’s features. He smiled at him reassuringly.

“Don’t worry, Connor. No tree-climbing for you today.”

“But how are we…”

Abby was interrupted by another squawk from the archaeopteryx, as it suddenly started scrambling up the tree trunk. Nick hurried to the base of the tree as it disappeared among the branches.

“What’s it doing?” said Connor.

“It’s moving on!” exclaimed Nick, as the archaeopteryx squawked again and then launched itself out of the tree. And away from the anomaly.

Nick watched for a couple of seconds as the prehistoric bird sailed away through the trees, roughly parallel to the treetop boardwalk. He quickly came to a decision.

“Connor, Abby, you follow it from down here. I’m going up on the boardwalk – I might be able to get a better view if I’m at its level.” Without waiting for an answer he turned and jogged hurriedly towards the wooden steps, dashing up them as quickly as he could. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Connor and Abby setting off in pursuit – luckily, in this part of the forest the trees were widely spaced, and there was little undergrowth. They shouldn’t have any problems keeping up.

Once on the boardwalk, Nick looked around quickly. Yes, he could still see the archaeopteryx. In fact, he was just in time to see it land on its next tree and scramble up the trunk a little before taking off again. It was clearly intending on leading them a merry dance. He took off after it along the raised wooden walkway, drawing level just as the creature jumped into flight again. So far, it was remaining near the boardwalk, but Nick could see that his path made a sharp turn to the left up ahead – he hoped the archaeopteryx would turn too. If it decided to glide under – or over – the boardwalk, he would lose it, and it would be up to Connor and Abby – still haring along the ground below him – to track it down.

 _Turn, turn, turn, turn, turn,_ he shouted at it silently.

But as he reached the corner in the boardwalk, he saw that the archaeopteryx’s current glide would indeed intercept the raised pathway. The creature landed slightly awkwardly on the flat wooden surface, and as Nick skidded to a halt a few yards from it, scuttled across it and took off once more. Away from the boardwalk, and away from him.

“Damn!” Nick hurried to the bird’s launch point and watched as it flew away from him.

“Cutter!”

Leaning over the rail of the walkway, Nick spied Abby below him, with Connor a couple of yards behind her, looking a little out of breath.

“Keep after it!” he called back. “But try not to scare it. We need to try and catch it. Hopefully it’ll get tired and stop soon. Radio Jenny and get her to send the soldiers along to your location with some of the equipment from the truck. I’ll find the other end of the boardwalk and join you as quickly as I can.”

“Okay.” Abby glanced around quickly, spotted the archaeopteryx a little way ahead, and jogged on again. Connor flashed a quick smile at Nick and set off after her.

Nick leant on the rail for a couple more seconds, getting his breath back and wondering if it would be quicker to carry on to the other end of the boardwalk, or go back the way he had come. The latter, he decided quickly. He knew he had only come a hundred yards or so from the first set of steps, whereas he could see that the walkway continued ahead around another corner, disappearing into the tree canopy. There had been an information board back near the anomaly saying how long the boardwalk was, but Nick hadn’t had time to read it, and he didn’t want to waste valuable time going off in the wrong direction. So back it was – and as fast as possible.

But when he turned around, Helen was there.


	5. Chapter 5

Connor collapsed against a tree, doubled over and gasping for breath. “I’m not cut out for this,” he rasped. “I’m supposed to be the technical support, not the action man.”

“Oh, stop complaining,” Abby responded unsympathetically. “Try saving your breath for more important things.” But Connor was gratified to hear that she was also breathing heavily, although she _was_ managing to remain in a rather more upright position than he was.

They weren’t the only ones who needed a breather. The archaeopteryx had also apparently worn itself out, and had finally come to rest in another tree for more than a few seconds. Clearly its method of transporting itself around was only intended for short distances – it wasn’t designed for extended periods of locomotion.

However, despite that, the chase had carried them all a significant distance through the forest, although luckily in a relatively straight line. It should be relatively easy for Nick and soldiers to find them. Always supposing their prehistoric visitor didn’t decide to go on another jaunt, of course.

As the stitch in Connor’s side diminished a little, he straightened up and eyed the archaeopteryx, as Abby radioed Jenny with information about their position. The crackling that overlaid the response told Connor that they were almost out of range – much further and they wouldn’t have been able to contact Jenny at all.

The bird now appeared to be taking a catnap or something. It wasn’t moving, and its eyes were almost closed, only the smallest of slits between the eyelids indicating that it might be watching Connor as intently as he was watching it.

“The soldiers have just arrived,” Abby informed him as she slid the radio back on to the clasp on her belt. “Jacobs and a couple of the others should be here soon.”

“And hopefully Nick as well,” added Connor. “How are we going to catch that thing?” he asked, gesturing minutely at the archaeopteryx, unwilling to frighten it off again.

“The soldiers are bringing some stuff from the truck, like the professor suggested. Do you know what was in there?”

“Not really,” Connor admitted. “It always looked like a lot of old junk to me. I’m sure most of it has been in there since Nick and Stephen were working at the university.”

“Oh well, maybe there’ll be something useful in there anyway.” But Abby didn’t sound particularly convinced, and Connor started wracking his brains for some way of catching the creature above them.

It took the soldiers less than fifteen minutes to reach them – they jogged into sight looking like they hadn’t even broken a sweat, and Connor felt a twinge of jealousy. He really needed to start going to the gym more. Or at all.

Anders and Rees were carrying a crate between them, with Jacobs taking point in front of them. There was only the three of them, since Carter was still stood down after being attacked by the raptors three months previously.

Connor grinned at Rees as he and Anders lowered the crate to the ground with a sigh of relief. The soldier smiled back. You couldn’t quite say they were friends, exactly – they moved in too vastly differing circles, for a start. But since the incident with the utahraptors, they had struck up a rapport while out in the field, chatting and joking with each other, swapping information and gossip. Connor had been worried initially about how this would be received by the other soldiers, but if anything it had seemed to increase their respect for him, something he greatly appreciated.

“How’s Carter?” Connor asked Rees, moving over to help him and Anders unload the crate.

“Pissed off,” Rees answered, his grin widening. “He wants to get back to work, but the captain’s insisting he takes another month off, just to be sure. He was pretty banged up.”

Connor grimaced in sympathy. “I know the feeling,” he said. “Although I think I got off lightly.”

“Well, us lot don’t like sitting around doing nothing,” said Rees. “And Carter’s been doing nothing but complain about it since the New Year. We’re seriously thinking about gagging him so we don’t have to listen to it any more!”

Connor laughed, and then turned his attention to tugging a canvas sack out of the crate. It had snagged on something, and Connor had to wrench it quite forcefully before it came free with a sudden jerk. For a moment he teetered on the edge of falling flat on his arse, but then Rees grabbed his arm, keeping him upright. “Thanks,” he said. “I could do without adding another bruise to my collection!”

Jacobs was talking to Abby. “We’ve brought most of what was in the truck,” he was saying. “Bit of a motley collection, I’m afraid.”

“Yeah, we were expecting that,” Abby replied, deliberately not catching Connor’s eye in case she started laughing. “Where’s Jenny?”

“She’s with Davis and his lot back at the anomaly,” Jacobs said. “They’re waiting there just in case.”

“Okay,” said Abby, nodding. “Now, let’s see what you’ve brought.”

Jacobs hadn’t been kidding when he’d described the contents of the truck. There were a few rusty tools, some half-used balls of string, the canvas sack, a roll of chicken wire, and, for some reason, an old watering can.

“Not much, is it?” said Abby, sounding slightly disappointed. “I’d hoped the professor’s habit of never throwing anything out might have come good for us.”

“Where is the professor, anyway?” asked Jacobs suddenly.

“I don’t know,” said Connor, frowning. “He said he was going to catch up to us. He should be here by now.”

“Maybe he’s gone back to the anomaly site,” said Rees. “Perhaps Ms. Lewis contacted him.”

“But he didn’t have a radio,” replied Connor, suddenly worried.

“I’m sure he’s fine, Connor,” said Abby. “He probably just got sidetracked – you know what he’s like.”

“Yeah, I suppose,” conceded Connor reluctantly. “I expect he’ll turn up soon.” He turned his attention to the pile of bits and pieces on the ground in front of him, and felt the germ of a plan begin to form. “I’ve got an idea. But we need to find a sturdy branch…”

Ten minutes later Connor, with Rees’ help, had rigged up a makeshift butterfly net, using a forked branch, the canvas sack, and some of the string to secure it. The archaeopteryx was still relaxing on its perch, although it had become a little more agitated since Rees had snapped off the branch they needed from a dead tree, making a loud cracking noise.

Moving slowly, Connor walked towards the tree where the archaeopteryx was resting, trying to keep the net steady – the canvas bag made it rather top-heavy. The prehistoric bird shifted nervously as he came closer – it seemed to sense that it was under threat.

“Connor…” muttered Abby urgently.

“Okay, okay,” Connor mumbled back, more to himself than to her. The net wobbled again, and the archaeopteryx squawked.

“It’s making a break for it,” exclaimed Anders.

The archaeopteryx dropped from the tree just as Connor lunged forwards with the net, missing it by inches.

“Connor!” wailed Abby again.

But the creature had mistimed its jump, hampered and confused no doubt by the trap heading towards it. Instead of gliding gracefully away it tumbled through the air, crashing to the ground with a spray of dirt.

Connor lunged again, dropping the net over the archaeopteryx before it could recover. Then he and Rees jumped forwards to hold the frayed edges of the sack to the ground.

“Is it okay?” Abby asked worriedly. “It hit the ground pretty hard.”

In answer the archaeopteryx shrieked loudly and indignantly, and the sack suddenly started jumping around like there was a whole flock of them inside it.

“It’s fine,” said Connor. “We just need to get it back to the anomaly as quickly as possible.”

Relinquishing his place holding the sack to Abby, he watched as she successfully managed to twist the neck of it closed, trapping the archaeopteryx inside. The bird sounded a bit pissed off about this development, squawking noisily and scrabbling at the inside of its prison – Abby and Rees made sure to keep their hands out of range as they set off to carry the wriggling sack back to the anomaly, Jacobs and Anders hurriedly tossing the remains of the pile of junk back into the crate and following on behind.

Connor, however, hesitated. Nick had said he was going to find them after coming down from the boardwalk. But he had never appeared, and no matter how sidetracked he might have become, Connor didn’t believe he would have completely forgotten about them. He had been far too excited about the archaeopteryx, for a start. But he hadn’t shown up, and Connor started to get worried again. Where was he?

*   *   *   *   *

Despite the suddenness of her appearance (some might call it miraculous, but Nick wouldn’t ever apply that word to his wife), Nick wasn’t surprised in the slightest by Helen’s presence. He’d told Lester she’d show up eventually, and here she was.

“What do you want?” he asked warily, knowing she wouldn’t just out and tell him – cooperation didn’t seem to be a word in Helen’s vocabulary any more – but unable to help asking anyway.

But Helen just smiled at him mockingly. “That’s not very welcoming of you, Nick,” she said. “I would have thought you’d have been happier to see me, considering what a lovely gift I’ve given you.”

“You haven’t given me anything,” Nick disagreed in a low voice. “All you’ve done is destroy yet another person’s life. What have you done to him, Helen?”

Helen ignored the question. “Oh Nick, I thought you’d be so happy to see him,” she said with mock-sadness. “It seems you don’t want him back as much as you thought you did.”

“That isn’t true and you know it!” Nick retorted, not caring that he was rising to Helen’s bait. “What have you done to him?” he asked again.

“I really have no idea what you’re talking about,” Helen replied lightly. “ _I_ haven’t done anything to him.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“He was so willing to come with me, you know. Desperate, almost. It’s not really surprising, though, considering what he was trying to leave behind.”

“Where did he come from?” Nick tried a different tack.

“A parallel timeline.” Helen gave the answer so easily that Nick blinked, his first instinct to disbelieve her.

“A parallel…oh, come on, Helen. Do you really expect me to swallow that?”

“Well, where else would he have come from? I certainly didn’t go to his grave and dig up his cold, dead body.”

Nick flinched at the image. “Okay, let’s say I buy it.  _How_ did you get him from his timeline to this one?”

But once again Helen avoided the question. “He’s adjusting quite well to the change, I’d say. Of course, it was a little disorientating for him at first, but then you’d know all about that, wouldn’t you, Nick?”

“What?”

“Still, he was really quite glad to be here. He had a very narrow escape from his world.” She smiled wolfishly, and Nick had to resist the urge to grab her and shake the answers out of her. He had the feeling that he would end up coming off worst from that kind of encounter.

“Helen, what the bloody hell happened to him?! Just tell me! Was he in danger? Did he see something that scared him? What about the rest of us? Weren’t we there to help him?”

“Oh, you were there. But unfortunately you weren’t much help to poor Stephen.”

“What do you mean? We’re his friends.  _I’m_ his friend.”

“That’s not the way Stephen sees it. In fact, I think I’d go so far as to say you’re one of his least favourite people in all the worlds right now.”


	6. Chapter 6

“You have got to be bloody kidding me!”

“’Fraid not.”

“Lester tried to have him killed?”

“Yep.”

They were in Nick’s kitchen, having finally returned from the Salcey Forest a couple of hours earlier. The archaeopteryx had been transported safely home, Nick reappearing after his encounter with Helen just in time to help carry the equipment back to the truck. He’d mentioned only briefly his meeting with his wife, staving off Jenny’s questions by promising her that she – along with Lester – would get a full explanation tomorrow.

When they’d finally got back to Nick’s place, both Nick and Connor had been too tired to do anything more than scavenge leftovers from Nick’s fridge for dinner. And now Connor was doing the washing-up while Nick perched on the edge of the kitchen table and watched him.

“ _Why_ , for god’s sake?”

“Helen said that in his timeline Lester _was_ masterminding some evil plan similar to Leek’s, only this time without her help. Stephen found out, got too close, and got caught. Apparently Helen helped him escape. So now he thinks the sun shines out of her arse. Obviously.”

“But what about us? Why didn’t we help him?”

Nick smiled wryly. “I asked Helen the same thing. Apparently we just pretty much stood by and watched. Either we were in league with Lester, or we were too scared to do anything. Helen wasn’t too specific on that point.”

“I refuse to believe we were on Lester’s side.” Connor made a fake-retching motion. “The idea is revolting!”

“Well, I don’t know what was going on,” replied Nick. “But it means that now Stephen is totally unwilling to trust us. Any of us. He thinks that we’re the same as our counterparts from his timeline. An opinion that’s no doubt been encouraged by Helen.” He thumped his fist on the table in frustration. “If I could just see him. Talk to him. I _know_ I could convince him that we’re his friends. But you can bet Helen won’t let me have a chance at that. She’ll keep him on an even tighter leash after this.”

“He’ll come around,” said Connor comfortingly. “Stephen’s not stupid. He must know that Helen’s not to be trusted.”

“I don’t know,” Nick disagreed. “She saved his life. That’s got to count for a lot.”

“It’ll be okay,” Connor insisted stubbornly, and Nick had to smile at his confidence. Had he ever been that certain about things? That good would triumph over evil? It was hard to remember. Things had stopped being that black and white for him a long time ago.

“I’m still trying to adjust to the idea that Helen brought him here from a different timeline,” Connor said. “I mean, I’ve spent most of my life thinking how cool it would be if parallel worlds really did exist, and now we find out they do I can’t really get my head around the idea. And she really wouldn’t tell you how she did it?”

“Nope. You know what Helen’s like. She’ll take a secret like that to the grave if she feels it’ll give her an advantage. She made sure she pulled one of her disappearing acts before we could get to the important stuff like how she’d been manipulating the fabric of time to serve her own ends.”

“Wait a minute.” Connor looked like he’d had some kind of epiphany. “Is this what happened to you, then?”

“Looks like it,” Nick admitted. “Helen certainly implied that that was the case.”

Connor grinned. “Cool!  So I know two people who’ve crossed between parallel worlds.” Then, suddenly, his smile died. “Oh. So if you could work out how to do it on purpose, you could go back. Go back and find Claudia,” he finished quietly.

Nick looked at him sharply. “I could,” he said. “But you know that I wouldn’t, right? Not now.” He sighed. “I can’t deny that, in my heart of hearts, I still wish Claudia was here instead of Jenny. But she’s not. And besides, Jenny’s not so bad once you get to know her. But even if I could go back, I never would. I wouldn’t leave you, Connor. I don’t want to leave you.”

Connor smiled again, albeit faintly. “Yeah, I know,” he said. “I just didn’t want you to think you _had_ to stay, just for me.”

“I am staying for you. But not because I have to.”

Connor suddenly found it necessary to focus his attention on the washing-up, and Nick smiled fondly as the young man turned away for a few seconds.

“So, how do you think this parallel world stuff works, then?” Connor asked after a few moments, only the faintest tremor in his voice belying his emotions.

“I really have no idea,” said Nick. “Helen didn’t even give me a hint to go on, somewhere to start looking. We don’t even know if the worlds have always existed, and the anomalies are just a convenient way to travel between them, or if the anomalies are somehow the _reason_ the worlds exist. Frankly, I’m getting a headache just thinking about it.”

“Well, we know that the worlds – or at least, the few we know about – are relatively similar,” mused Connor. “They contain mostly the same people, and generally follow the same patterns of events. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean _all_ the worlds would look familiar to us. We might not even exist in some of them.” He thought for a moment. “I think we can definitely assume they’re linked to the anomalies, though. I mean, you left your timeline by going through the anomaly in the Forest of Dean to the Permian, and then came back through what, as far as you were concerned, was the _same_ anomaly, but found yourself back in this timeline instead.”

“Yep, I’m definitely getting a headache,” muttered Nick.

Connor was in full flow now. “But hang on a minute! What about the Nick from this timeline? After all, we all saw you – him – go through the Forest of Dean anomaly here too. You must both have been in the Permian at the same time – as well as Captain Ryan and the others. But you didn’t see him?”

“No, of course not.”

“So where was he? And where did he go? You came back here instead of him. So he must have gone somewhere else.”

“Who knows?” said Nick. “Helen probably had something to do with it. Maybe he got killed by a Gorgonopsid. Maybe he’s even back in my old timeline, getting to know Claudia Brown all over again. Or maybe I _am_ him – perhaps time has some kind of safety mechanism to prevent two of the same person being in the same place at the same time. I and the original Nick Cutter from this timeline became the same person the second we both stepped through our respective anomalies.”

Despite his enthusiasm for this kind of thing, Connor now looked like he was getting as confused as Nick felt. Nick took pity. “Now do you see why I’m getting a headache?” he said gently. “We could discuss this for a year and not get any closer to an answer. Until Helen decides she wants to cooperate, we’ll just have to wait. And since hell freezing over is more likely than Helen voluntarily offering to help us, we could be waiting a long time.” He paused. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t try and help Stephen,” he continued grimly. “I _have_ to try and get through to him somehow. Release him from Helen’s influence. I didn’t try hard enough last time, and look what happened. I won’t allow the same thing to happen again. I won’t!”

Connor finished drying the final plate, tossed the tea towel on to the worktop, and then walked over to the table. Pulling out a chair, he sat down in front of Nick, resting his hands on Nick’s thighs.

“It’s not going to happen again,” he said soothingly. “ _None_ of us is going to let that happen again. We’ll get him back, Nick. We’ll get him back even if I have to accidentally shoot him with a tranquilliser dart and haul him back on a trolley!”

Nick smiled at the image, and Connor smiled back. “That’s better,” he murmured. “You know, you should try not to worry so much.”

“I can’t help it,” Nick replied. “It’s in my nature.”

“Well then, it’s a good job it’s in _my_ nature to try and take your mind _off_ your worries,” said Connor, his grin altering subtlely in a way designed to do just that.

Nick swallowed, suddenly very aware of his and Connor’s respective positions, and the warmth of Connor’s hands on his thighs.

One of those hands was now sliding slowly up Nick’s leg, fingers tracing a path along the waistband of Nick’s jeans until they found and undid the button and zipper.

“You need to relax,” Connor was saying. “There’s nothing we can do about any of this tonight, so you just need to try not to think about it.” His questing fingers were now trying to push denim and cotton out of the way, and Nick unthinkingly lifted his hips slightly in assistance, leaning back on his hands to brace himself.

His cock was now _definitely_ taking an interest in proceedings, and as Connor’s warm breath ghosted over sensitive skin, Nick drew his breath in sharply.

Slowly, almost thoughtfully, Connor ran the tip of his tongue up Nick’s shaft, as if trying to get a sense of what Nick tasted like. Which he didn’t need to – he already knew the answer to that, after all. But Connor, Nick had discovered, had very quickly learned how to be a tease, and how to drive Nick out of his mind by not really doing anything much.

“You know, this isn’t very relaxing,” Nick commented. At least, that’s what he was going to say, but he didn’t get much further than the fourth word before Connor – again almost experimentally – leaned forward and closed his lips around the head of Nick’s cock.

The words dissolved into a low moan. Although he had fast learned the art of tormenting Nick, happily Connor had also discovered over the past few months that he had a talent for blowjobs as well. It figured, really. A mouth that was so good at talking was bound to be good at other things, too.

He wasn’t perfect yet – although Nick was more than happy to help him practice this particular skill as much as possible – but right now that didn’t really matter. It felt just right, and as Connor gently sucked and licked on his cock Nick felt the stresses of the day draining away, to be replaced by a tension of an entirely different kind.

Without really noticing, he let one of his hands settle on the back of Connor’s head – not restraining or pushing, just resting, his fingers entwined in Connor’s dark hair as he arched his back slightly and let his eyes droop shut.

His orgasm, when it came, was neither sudden nor mind-blowing, but flowed through him softly and pleasurably, leaving behind a sense of well-being that was a nice change from the almost constant worry of the last few weeks.

Connor sat back and smiled, licking his lips in a somewhat provocative manner – although whether he was doing it on purpose Nick couldn’t decide. And he didn’t really care either, as he moved his now sated body with an effort, exerting himself to lean forward and kiss Connor.

But the movement was a bit too much, and after a few seconds gravity came into play. Nick abruptly slid off the edge of the table, his feet hitting the floor with a thud. Only Connor’s hands on his chest stopped him from toppling on to the young man and pushing both him and his chair to the floor. Nick’s own hands were occupied in scrabbling at his jeans as he tried to avoid an unintentionally comedic trousers-round-ankles moment.

When the scuffling and flailing had calmed a little, Nick straightened and scowled. “I’m getting too old for this,” he grumbled.

“Not old, just tired,” responded Connor firmly. He stood and held out a hand. “Come on. It appears it’s time for me to put my poor tired professor to bed. After all, there are important things to do tomorrow.”

“Such as?”

“Telling Lester about Helen’s visit and then trying to convince him that not all Cutters are completely batshit insane?”

“Oh, that. Thanks for reminding me.”

Connor smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry. It’ll be okay.”

“I seem to recall you’ve already said that.”

“So? It will be. So stop worrying and let’s get some sleep. We can deal with tomorrow’s problems tomorrow.”


	7. Chapter 7

“Wonderful. I have enough problems dealing with one Professor Cutter, and now you’re telling me there are _more_ of you?”

“Apparently so.” Nick couldn’t help grinning at Lester’s faintly dismayed expression. “Although I wouldn’t worry – it’s unlikely you’ll suddenly be overrun by a crowd of my doppelgangers. Even Helen’s not _that_ evil.”

“Ah, yes. How is your lovely wife? Still being as helpful as ever?”

“If you’re asking if she gave me any useful information, then the answer is no,” Nick replied. “I’m as in the dark as you are about this whole parallel world business.”

“And what about Stephen?” Jenny asked quietly. So far, she hadn’t said much, simply taking in Nick’s explanation of Helen’s appearance and Stephen’s behaviour without questioning him.

“What about him?”

“You want to help him, don’t you?”

“Well, of course I do. We need to get him away from Helen.”

“Why, exactly?” Lester enquired suddenly. “I very much doubt that just the pair of them can cause much trouble. Your wife might be clever, professor, but even she can’t do much damage with just Hart to help her out.”

“You don’t know Helen,” said Nick darkly. “And besides, it’s got nothing to do with that. She’s manipulating him, feeding him a pack of lies to keep him under her thumb. He doesn’t deserve that. We have to help him.”

“And this wouldn’t be in any way related to your guilt over the manner of our Stephen’s death?”

Nick opened his mouth to give an angry reply, but Jenny cut across him smoothly.

“But _how_ are you intending to help him? Helen won’t just give him up to you. Even if she isn’t going to use him for any particular purpose, she’ll know how much it’s hurting you that she’s got him on her side.”

“I just need to talk to him. Make him understand.”

“But you need to get to him first,” Jenny insisted gently.

“Maybe I should send a team out to try and track them down,” Lester mused. “I doubt the two of them could hold out against a unit of soldiers.”

“No, you can’t do that!” responded Nick, aghast. “Helen’s already got Stephen thinking we’re out to get him. For god’s sake, man, you tried to _kill_ him back in his world. Dragging him in here under armed guard will terrify him. He’ll never trust any of us again.”

Lester held up a placating hand, although his expression didn’t betray the slightest sympathy. “Please, professor, spare me the melodramatics. Do you have a better idea?”

“No,” Nick admitted. “But I know that force isn’t the answer. We need to persuade him that we’re the good guys. And we won’t do that by treating _him_ like one of the bad ones.”

Jenny laid a hand on his arm. “Okay, okay,” she said soothingly. “We won’t do anything for the moment. We’ll let you try and work something out.”

“Thank you,” said Nick, smiling at her.

Lester looked extremely irritated at having been overruled without being consulted, but he let it pass with an ease that, if Nick had been concentrating, he would have found slightly suspicious.

“Very well, professor. We’ll do it your way. But I want a report on your meeting with your wife, along with recommendations for remedying this situation, on my desk by this time tomorrow.”  
  
*   *   *   *   *

“When I accepted this posting, I didn’t expect to become a glorified shepherd,” Rees grumbled, stopping for a moment next to Nick and Connor to catch a breather.

“Awww, is the big tough soldier feeling a little bit under-appreciated?” mocked Connor, grinning impishly. Then he jumped backwards as Rees aimed a good-natured swipe at him.

“I notice you’re not doing your fair share of the round-up duties,” the soldier commented.

“I’m coordinating the effort,” replied Connor promptly, gesturing to his laptop.

Nick snorted with laughter as Rees rolled his eyes. Truthfully, they were probably all better off with Connor keeping _out_ of the action. The young man had an alarming tendency to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Nick certainly didn’t want him getting injured again quite so soon after his experience with the triceratops and utahraptors.

“Right, well I suppose we’d better get back to it,” said Rees wearily. “You coming, professor?”

“I’m right behind you,” Nick replied, flashing Connor a quick smile before heading after the soldier.

It was getting on for spring, and the air had lost some of the coldness and dampness that seemed to characterise January and February. The vegetation was beginning to look a little greener as well – the world was waking up again after the winter, and Nick was glad to see it.

On this particular day they’d also been graced with some sunshine, although at this juncture Nick was actually starting to wish that there were a few more clouds in the sky.

The latest anomaly had disgorged what appeared to be a whole herd of _Maiasaura_ into the rolling Warwickshire countryside. And while the creatures posed no threat, and were stupid and placid enough to be easily herded back through to their own time, the problem was that, two minutes after they’d been shunted through the anomaly, they more often than not reappeared on this side of it again – clearly the herd mentality was such that they got nervous being separated from the main group. Nick figured that if they could just get enough of them home, that would tip the balance, and the rest would follow.

But that was easier said than done. Hence Rees’ grumbling, and Nick’s desire for clouds. Herding Maiasaurs was turning out to be hot work, even with all available personnel on the job.

The entirety of Jacobs’ unit (minus Carter, who was still off active duty) was out, as well as Davis’. Then there was Nick himself, Abby, and even Jenny. Connor was the only one not taking an active role, by mutual agreement of everyone involved, although Nick was starting to think that the young man might have to play his part, if they were going to get the job done before nightfall. In fact, he was seriously considering getting Jenny to phone Lester and ask for more help. Eleven people clearly weren’t enough to deal with a herd of twenty-five Maiasaurs, no matter how docile they might be.

As Nick watched Anders and Davis team up against two of the large herbivores, he wondered where Stephen and Helen were at this moment. Despite Lester’s request for recommendations, he hadn’t yet been able to think up a single way of finding them that didn’t involve multiple teams of people keeping watch at known anomaly sites in case they should suddenly appear. And somehow he didn’t think the project budget, or Lester’s patience, would stretch quite that far. The only consolation was that, if they had no way of knowing where Stephen and Helen were going to turn up next, Lester couldn’t very well send a unit of soldiers out specifically to grab them. Nick wanted to avoid that route at all costs.

“Professor! Look out!”

Rees’ yell snapped him back to attention just in time to duck as the Maiasaur’s tail swung towards him. He rolled out of the way quickly as Abby and Bradshaw hurried past, shooing the creature in the direction of the anomaly, and then sat up, catching his breath as he looked around.

Wait, what was that? Nick’s eyes had spotted movement, about a hundred yards away on the edge of a small copse. Whatever it was, it was too small and upright to be another Maiasaur. For a moment he considered calling Jenny or Jacobs over to have a look. But then there was another movement, and Nick realised he could now make out a shape silhouetted against the foliage. A human shape. And he knew who it was.

Glancing around again, Nick checked that the rest of the team were busy with the Maiasaurs before he scrambled to his feet and set off unobtrusively in the direction of the copse. The person had disappeared now, but somehow Nick knew that they would be waiting for him when he reached his destination.  
  
*   *   *   *   *  
  
His hunch had been right. Hidden in the trees was another anomaly. And while this one didn’t appear to have produced any prehistoric beasties, dangerous or otherwise, it had provided him with someone to chat to.

“Hello, Stephen.”

“Hello, Nick.”

“Where’s Helen?”

Stephen jerked his head at the anomaly. “Waiting for me.”

“Why are you here?”

Stephen shrugged. “Just curious, I guess.”

“Come with me,” said Nick suddenly.

“And why exactly would I do that?” asked Stephen, not looking at all surprised by Nick’s request.

“Because I’m your friend. And Helen…well, Helen _isn’t_.”

“She saved my life. That seems pretty friendly to me.”

“Stephen, you know Helen never does anything unless she can gain something by it! She’s using you to get to me, and you can bet that’s not all. She’s _not_ your friend.”

“And you expect me to believe that you are?”

“Yes! _Please_ , Stephen. You _have_ to believe me. I know we didn’t help you back in your world, but it’s not like that here. We’re friends. We stick together…”

Nick halted abruptly as he realised what he was saying. It wasn’t true. None of it. They _hadn’t_ stuck together. If they had, Stephen would never have died, and he wouldn’t be having this conversation now. He had shut Stephen out, and Stephen had paid the price. Like, apparently, this Stephen had so nearly done.

Stephen smiled bitterly at the expression on Nick’s face. “What’s the matter, Nick?” he mocked. “Not quite telling me the whole truth, perhaps?”

Nick made an effort to pull himself together. “Yes, we had our problems,” he acknowledged. “But I’d do _anything_ to be able to go back and put things right. To fix things between us. You didn’t have to die.”

Now Stephen laughed. “And you say Helen’s using me!” he exclaimed. “All you want to do is assuage your own guilt over something you could so easily have prevented. Well, I’m sorry, but I’m not going to play your little game.”

“Stephen, that’s not true. I want to help you.”

Stephen’s eyes suddenly flicked away from Nick to focus on something behind him. “Oh, you do, do you?” he said disbelievingly, his face abruptly settling into a cold, hard mask.

Puzzled, Nick started to turn, when a voice stopped him.

“Don’t move, please, professor. Hart, we’d like you to come with us.”


	8. Chapter 8

 

Connor watched in horror as the little procession made its way back to the vehicles. Jacobs was leading the way – behind him came Anders and Rees, holding Stephen firmly between them. Davis was bringing up the rear, and trailing behind them all was Nick, his furious shouts merging with Stephen’s angry (and frightened?) protests.

“Stop right now!”

“Let me go!”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“You can’t just abduct me like this!”

“Captain Jacobs, _stop_!”

They reached the trucks, and Jacobs abruptly turned to face Nick. “I’m sorry, professor,” he said, firmly but not unsympathetically. “Lester’s orders. We were told to keep an eye out for Hart or your wife, and bring them in if the opportunity arose.” He turned his gaze on to Stephen. “No one’s going to hurt you – I promise. If they do they’ll have me to answer to.”

“Yeah, right,” muttered Stephen sarcastically, clearly unconvinced as Anders and Rees nudged him towards the truck. Rees sent an apologetic look in Connor’s direction, and then nodded his head towards Nick. Connor nodded back in acknowledgement.

“I’m coming with you,” Nick was saying.

“No, you’re not,” Jacobs replied. “Lester’s orders were very specific. He seemed to think you might try something…rash, given the opportunity.”

“If you think I’m just going to let you take him…” said Nick, his voice rising again.

“That’s exactly what I think,” said Jacobs calmly. “Now, please step back, professor. We wouldn’t want to run you over.”

As the truck’s engine roared into life, Nick called out again. “Don’t worry, Stephen. Nothing will happen to you. I’m right behind you. I’m sorry.”

But Connor doubted that Stephen had heard. He took a step towards Nick, but the other man was already hurrying towards his own vehicle, too intent on his pursuit to think about anything else.

Connor glanced at Abby. She made a shooing motion, mouthing, “Go!” at him. Behind her, the final two Maiasaurs, finally bored of the present day, ambled off through the anomaly, unnoticed by everyone.

Shooting a grateful smile at Abby, and an apologetic one at Jenny, Connor dashed after Nick, jumping into the passenger seat of his truck only a second or two before he pulled away.

*   *   *   *   *

Nick’s eyes followed Stephen as he prowled backwards and forwards like a caged animal. Anger and fear radiated from every line of his body, and unfortunately, Nick could imagine all too well what he was going through. Trapped in a world he didn’t know, where all the people looked the same, but were just that little bit different, and no one quite understood what had happened to you. Yes, Nick could definitely imagine what that felt like.

Apparently, Stephen wasn’t a prisoner, although how being held in a room with a one-way glass window and an armed guard outside the door fitted into that scenario, Nick wasn’t quite sure. That same armed guard had politely but firmly rebuffed him when he’d tried to see Stephen, and he’d immediately hurtled upstairs to see Lester.

It had taken half an hour of yelling, cajoling, and wheedling before the civil servant had finally given in and given permission for Nick to talk to Stephen. And Nick suspected that it was more to get him out of his office than for any truly altruistic reason. Although he had made it clear that he would be coming to speak to Stephen himself sooner rather than later. Which had made Nick only more determined to convince Stephen that they were the good guys – before Lester appeared and stuck his oar in.

So why was he standing out here, just watching Stephen as he grew more and more afraid? Why wasn’t he in there talking to him?

A hand on his shoulder made him jump slightly, and he turned to see Connor standing behind him.

“Hey,” the younger man said, as he stared through the glass.

“Hey, yourself,” Nick responded tiredly, his own gaze still fixed on Stephen. “Look at him,” he continued softly. “He’s terrified.”

“He doesn’t look too bad to me,” Connor observed. “More pissed off than anything else.”

“I know him,” said Nick. “I’ve known him for ten years. Okay, so this isn’t the _same_ Stephen, but I can still tell that he’s frightened. Of course, he’d die rather than admit it.” He winced as he realised what he’d just said, and Connor’s hand squeezed his shoulder comfortingly.

“Just go in there and _talk_ to him,” said Connor. “If you know him that well, then he must know you. He’ll know you’re telling the truth, that you’re trying to help him.”

“He doesn’t seem to have worked that out so far,” responded Nick bitterly. “What if I can’t convince him?”

“You won’t know unless you try.”

*   *   *   *   *

Stephen looked up sharply as Nick entered the room. He had finally stopped pacing and sat down, trying to appear calm. But Nick could sense the nervous tension radiating from him, and he wasn’t fooled in the slightest.

“Oh, so you’re going to try killing me with kindness this time, are you?” said Stephen acidly, his voice only shaking the tiniest bit.

“Stephen…” Nick shook his head tiredly and sat down opposite the other man. “You’re safe here. No one’s going to hurt you.”

“I thought I was safe _there_ ,” replied Stephen. “Until Lester and his henchmen got their hands on me. And even then I thought I’d be okay. I thought, _Cutter will help me. Things aren’t that bad between us._ But you didn’t. I was alone until she found me.”

Nick ignored the reference to Helen for the moment. “What happened?” he asked softly. “Did they…what did they do to you?”

“Did they torture me, you mean?” said Stephen bleakly. “No, nothing like that. It was intimidation, mostly. Threats, trying to demoralise me, that kind of thing. Lester wanted to know how much I knew about his scheme, and whether I’d told anyone else. I hadn’t – mainly because I had no one to tell by then. Of course, he didn’t believe that for a moment. But there was still no torture. Lester’s goons beat me up a couple of times, but I think that was more down to his frustration that I wasn’t giving him anything, rather than a definite attempt to get me to talk. But it was made perfectly clear what would happen to me once they’d extracted any information. And it wasn’t that they were just going to let me toddle off back to freedom.”

Nick tried not to think about what kind of effort it must have taken Stephen to resist all that. “And then Helen rescued you?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“How?”

“Don’t know,” Stephen admitted. “She was just there. I was at a pretty low ebb by that point, so I didn’t really question it. I was just glad to see her.”

“But what about afterwards? Didn’t you ask her then?”

“No.” Stephen looked faintly surprised at this oversight on his part, and Nick hoped it might be a sign that he was starting to rethink Helen’s reasons for wanting him, and realise that he wasn’t under threat here.

But those hopes took a nosedive as Stephen looked around the room. “I must say, you have a nice set up here,” he commented. “It looks pretty much like the ARC back in my timeline – at least from what I saw as I was hustled through it by my guard of armed soldiers. Although the prison cells seem nicer here. I certainly don’t recall having a water cooler when I was last locked up.”

“Stephen, you’re not a prisoner. No one’s trying to kill you here – it’s not the same as where you’ve come from,” said Nick, wondering how many times he was going to have to repeat this before he could get past the poisonous web of lies Helen had clearly spun in Stephen’s head.

Another brief flash of uncertainty suddenly flickered across Stephen’s face, and Nick’s hopes rose again. Then Stephen paled abruptly as another voice spoke.

“Oh, for goodness sake, man, don’t you think if I wanted to kill you I would have done it by now, and saved myself a lot of trouble?”

Both of them had been so intent on their conversation that they hadn’t noticed Lester come in. The civil servant had been standing in the shadows by the door, but now he strode into the light, his expression the usual mix of superciliousness and exasperation that he so often wore around Nick and his team.

“And do you really think I would have let Cutter try and sweet talk you if I was just planning on doing away with you?” he continued.

Struggling to master his fear, Stephen nevertheless remained defiant. “And why, exactly, should I believe you?” he asked icily.

“Oh, for crying out loud…professor, why are you even bothering? Maybe we should just send him back to Helen. They deserve each other.”

Nick bit back a retort, a tiny disloyal voice in the back of his mind whispering that maybe Lester was right. Maybe Stephen _would_ never believe them.

“No!” he said sharply, shaking the thoughts away. “He _doesn’t_ deserve that.”

“ _He_ is sitting right here and would like a chance to decide for himself,” Stephen reminded them angrily.

Lester ignored him. “Here, professor,” he said, thrusting a piece of paper suddenly at Nick. “One of the security guards found this on the windscreen of your truck. And might I add how much I dislike being your delivery boy?”

Nick took the paper, unfolding it and reading it quickly. His eyebrows shot up.

_The Park. Tomorrow 10pm. Come alone._

It was unsigned, but he recognised the handwriting.

“From you lovely wife, I take it?” Lester enquired, reading the note over Nick’s shoulder. “I shall have to have a word with security about their total inability to stop a single unarmed female from infiltrating this facility and getting away scott free. What park would this be, incidentally?”

“The one near our…my…house, I should think,” replied Nick. “We used to walk there.”

“What does she want?”

“Probably to know what’s happened to me!” Stephen interjected. “I want to come with you.”

“Absolutely not,” Lester began, but Nick held up a hand to stop him, and the civil servant subsided, scowling.

“Wait,” said Nick thoughtfully. “I’ve got an idea.”


	9. Chapter 9

  
Nick sat on the bench and stared out over the lake. It was too dark to see much, but the moon was rising, the silvery light reflecting off the gently moving water and silhouetting the willows clustered by the lakeside.

He couldn’t decide if Helen was being in some way sentimental by choosing this place to meet, or whether she just thought it would be harder for them to be overheard here. Perhaps there was even an anomaly nearby, and he had in fact been living within a stone’s throw of a doorway to the past for the last twenty years.

The sound of footsteps met his ears, and he turned to see a figure approaching rapidly along the lakeside path. When she reached him Helen sat down at the opposite end of the bench and looked directly at him.

“Did you come alone?”

“You know I did,” Nick replied. He was sure Helen would have checked the surrounding area thoroughly before making her presence known. Lester had argued, but Nick had insisted that the soldiers had to stay away – Helen would know if they were nearby. “I must say, this all very clichéd, Helen. Solitary clandestine meetings in the dead of night – it’s a bit melodramatic, isn’t it?”

Helen smiled slightly. “I just wanted to make sure we weren’t interrupted,” she said. “It can throw a bit of a spanner in the works – trying to have a conversation while avoiding men with guns.” She cocked her head slightly. “I did wonder if you might have tried to bring your little lover boy with you, though. He wouldn’t do you much good as backup, but maybe as a witness? What exactly do you see in him, Nick? Of all the people you could have chosen, why pick him?”

 _Why didn’t you pick me, is what you really mean_ , Nick thought to himself. But he didn’t want to talk about Connor. “What do you want, Helen?” he asked aloud.

“Where’s Stephen?”

“Stephen’s with us now.”

“I very much doubt it. He’s far too frightened of Lester to stay with you voluntarily. I expect you’ve got him locked up in that Anomaly Research Centre of yours, haven’t you?”

“He’s not _locked up_ anywhere, as a matter of fact. He just doesn’t want to see you any more.”

“He needs me,” responded Helen. “I saved his life.”

“And why exactly did you do that? I find it difficult to believe it was out of the kindness of your heart.”

“Nick, I’m hurt!” Helen exclaimed. “I just wanted to help him, that’s all.”

Nick looked at her silently, and saw a flash of irritation cross Helen’s face.

“Give him back to me,” she said.

“You’re upset that we’ve stolen your little toy, aren’t you?” Nick taunted her. “Well, you’re not going to get your own way in this, Helen. He’s staying with us, and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”

“Why don’t we ask him what he wants?” Helen demanded “Or doesn’t his opinion matter?”

“He doesn’t want to be with you any more,” Nick repeated, hoping desperately that this would soon be true.

The expression that crossed Helen’s face this time was downright angry, and Nick could see the visible effort it took to get herself under control again. She stood up abruptly, and Nick quickly followed suit.

“Fine,” Helen said. “You can keep him. I don’t really need him any more anyway. Do you want to know why I rescued him, Nick? I’ll tell you. To prove that I could. The anomalies can be useful in so many ways, Nick. But of course one needs to experiment, test things out.”

“So Stephen was just an experiment?”

“I suppose so, yes. Quite a pleasant one, but an experiment nonetheless. Poor Stephen. First you didn’t want him, and now I don’t want him. He’s not doing very well, is he?”

“Oh, I want him,” said Nick. “ _We_ all want him.”

“Well, in that case, it looks like I’ll just have to leave him in your very capable hands, then,” said Helen sarcastically.

“Helen, why don’t you come with me?” Nick said abruptly. “You could still help us. You could still tell us about the anomalies. We don’t have to be enemies.”

“And I’m sure Lester would just love that, wouldn’t he?” replied Helen. “You and I both know that I wouldn’t get within a mile of your precious ARC before he locked me up and threw away the key.”

Nick was silent. Helen’s words were probably the truth – she had gone too far for Lester to give her any leeway now. But he’d had to try.

“And do you know what?” Helen continued suddenly. “I don’t think you really want me around either. Oh, you’d tolerate me if it meant you could find out about the anomalies, but really I think you’d be happy if you never saw me again. I remind you of your failures, don’t I, Nick? How you failed at your marriage, how you failed to find Claudia, how you failed to stop Stephen killing himself…”

“Shut up,” said Nick, quietly but vehemently.

“That’s better. Some anger. At least that’s honest. Human beings are so good at lying to themselves, at hiding from their emotions. And you’re better at it than most, Nick. Does young Mr. Temple know what a messed up person he’s got himself involved with, I wonder?”

“Shut up,” said Nick again. “Don’t bring Connor into this. Yes, I have my problems. But I’m still here. I didn’t run away from them into the past. You say I’m good at hiding from my emotions and lying to myself? Well then, that must make you the champion at it.”

Helen looked faintly disconcerted by this, and Nick waited to hear what her comeback would be.

 But the silence was interrupted by a sharp crackling sound. Helen looked at him sharply as he shook his head slightly.

“What’s that?” Then realisation dawned on her face. “Oh. It seems I’m not the only one falling into the cliché trap tonight. A wire, Nick? What on earth did you hope to accomplish with that? Who’s listening?”

“Someone who now knows the truth about you,” Nick retorted triumphantly.

For a second he thought Helen was going to hit him. But then she abruptly turned on her heel, walking away from him as rapidly as she had arrived. “Good-bye Nick.” Her voice floated back to him through the cold night air. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again soon.”

Nick didn’t watch her leave. Instead he immediately set off across the park in the direction of the gates. As he neared the boundary he started sensing movement around him, and knew that Jacobs and his men were moving in on Helen. His hunch had been correct – she had been too overconfident and hadn’t checked much further than the area immediately around the lake. And with him wearing the wire, the soldiers had still been able to keep in touch with what was going on without being in the immediate vicinity.

He didn’t make contact with any of them, but as he walked towards the gates he muttered a few words into the microphone secreted under his collar.

“Did he hear?”

“ _He heard_ ,” replied a tinny voice in his earpiece. “ _He’s waiting for you_.”

Nick passed through the gates and crossed the street towards a nondescript black van parked opposite the park (another cliché, but it couldn’t be helped). As he approached it the back doors opened and Stephen climbed out. There was a tense moment, and then he smiled sheepishly at Nick and stuck his hand out.

Nick ignored it, and instead pulled him into a silent hug.

*   *   *   *   *

“So, you’ve decided to see sense and stay here, have you?” Lester’s trademark sneer was firmly in place, but his voice lacked its usual sarcasm, and Nick decided that this was probably Lester’s version of welcoming.

Stephen, however, didn’t look so sure, although he smiled tentatively when Lester rolled his eyes and headed back up to his office.

“Seems like your typical government manager,” he commented.

“He sure is,” Nick agreed. “You’ll get used to him. I normally find it works best to ignore him as much as possible. Although, surprisingly enough, he does have his moments of humanity. They’re just a bit few and far between.”

“Stephen!”

Connor and Abby were heading towards them, both grinning widely.

“So you’ve stopped being a plonker, then?” Nick winced at Connor’s tactless choice of words, but Stephen just laughed and punched him playfully on the shoulder.

“It seems so,” he said.

Connor grimaced as he rubbed his shoulder, and Nick sent him an unsympathetic smirk. Connor stuck his tongue out, and then winked at him.

“I’m glad you’re back,” Abby was saying to Stephen. Standing on tiptoes, she kissed him on the cheek, making him blush slightly.

Connor gave him a nudge with his elbow. “I think you’re in there, mate,” he joked.

But Nick’s attention was distracted from the banter when he saw Jacobs enter the atrium, heading for Lester’s office. Detaching himself from Stephen and the others, Nick hurried across to intercept him.

“Did you find her?” he asked without preamble.

Jacobs frowned. “No,” he said shortly. “We were too late. But none of the lads stationed around the perimeter of the park saw her leave. She’s a slippery customer, that one. More cunning than a whole den of foxes.”

“She is that,” said Nick, nodding. Privately, he wondered if his idea had been correct, and there was indeed an anomaly site in the park. But he dismissed the notion when he realised that they’d had no notice of the detector going off, which it would have done if Helen had called up an anomaly to escape. No, she’d just outsmarted them once again, that was all.

But as he recalled her parting words, Nick knew she wasn’t gone for good.


End file.
